On the grass courts of or racing through the Belgian forests, what matters is staying in control.
Kimi Antonelli heads into the Belgian Grand Prix with a piece of advice he picked up recently from Roger Federer.
After a run of car problems cut into the Italian’s standings lead, Antonelli’s chat with the tennis great in the Royal Box at Wimbledon offered a fresh perspective on how to stop these blips turning into a slump.
鈥淎bout pressure, he just told me to really focus one race at a time, just focus on what you can control, and also to control the emotions, especially the ones that can make you do mistakes,鈥� Antonelli said Thursday.
鈥淭hose were the main pieces of advice. Other than that, it was an incredible experience to witness.鈥�
So far, Antonelli seems to be staying focused, even as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton . Antonelli doesn’t seem to have lost any of his race-winning pace, unlike last year, when his confidence hit rock-bottom after errors on the European tracks he was meant to know best.
鈥淚 just need to maximize every opportunity I get, what I have in control, and then we鈥檒l see what the rest will be,鈥� Antonelli said. 鈥淚t’s part of the sport and the team are doing a tremendous job to make sure that all these issues are not happening again.鈥�
Russell’s struggles
Instead, it’s his more experienced Mercedes teammate George Russell who’s struggling.
A second-place finish for Russell at the British Grand Prix was , as he benefited from Antonelli’s car trouble, a crash for Max Verstappen and a strategy blunder for Hamilton.
Russell cut Antonelli’s lead to 25 points but said he felt 鈥渓ess satisfied鈥� with that home podium finish than he had breaking down from the lead in Canada.
The fast, sweeping Belgian circuit has key similarities to Silverstone. That could pose a challenge to Russell and offer an opportunity to Ferrari.
Leclerc and Ferrari were surprised he had the pace to win in Britain and they’ve been working since then to understand what worked so well to deliver that pace this weekend, too.
Mercedes remains the team to beat and 鈥渟hould be a lot further ahead” in the standings by now, Hamilton told Sky Sports.
Norris hits another setback
One driver who almost certainly won’t be in contention for the win is Lando Norris. The defending champion comes into this week’s race with a after McLaren switched out a troublesome electrical part on his car.
Teammate Oscar Piastri spent Thursday stressing he trusts McLaren’s assurances he’ll stay with the team next year despite in signing Max Verstappen.
Four-time champion Verstappen left his future open Thursday but had warm words for Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies, who started his tenure a year ago with a for Verstappen in a sprint in Belgium.
After Verstappen fumed at Red Bull’s 鈥渄angerous鈥� car after back-to-back crashes caused by rear wing failures, the team is going back to an older design this week, potentially affecting Verstappen’s pace.
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